It’s a German fairy tale! A club you probably never heard of, 1. FC Heidenheim, won their last game of the 2. Bundesliga season after a dramatic comeback and secured promotion to the top tier. It’s an astonishing achievement for the German minnows and their coach Frank Schmidt.The 48-year-old coach took charge of fifth-tier team Heidenheim for only two weeks in 2007 when their old coach Dieter Markle departed. As a former player of the club, his only task was to lead the team in their two final games of the season. He remained in his post a little longer – for 15 years.😱 Absolute scenes!Heidenheim score twice in injury-time to claim direct promotion to the Bundesliga. Hamburg have to settle for third spot and will play Stuttgart in the relegation play-off. pic.twitter.com/PEyNDjpDgF— DW Sports (@dw_sports) May 28, 2023 On 17 September 2007, Schmidt took over at the tiny old club in south of the country. At that time, their Albstadion only had one stand on one side of the pitch, which could not accommodate more than a few hundred spectators. From there, two donkeys could be observed standing in a field next door. Schmidt remembers those days and is the guy who oversaw the stadium’s development into a 15,000-seater arena. The old kiosk for selling tickets was integrated into the stadium during the renovations – and Schmidt is proud of it.”It’s so that you never forget where you come from. That doesn’t hurt.” He was born in Heidenheim and grew up in a nearby town of Giengen an der Brenz. He studied with an ambition of becoming a bank teller. Football was never on his agenda. But football wouldn’t let Frank go.FAIRYTALE | Heidenheim have ascended up the German football pyramid ⬆️▪️2003-04: Sixth Tier▪️2004-05: Fifth Tier▪️2008-09: Fourth Tier▪️2009-10: Third Tier▪️2014-15: Second Tier▪️2023-24: Bundesliga pending…Frank Schmidt has been manager at the club since 2007#German pic.twitter.com/MATrhEvHGW— The_BeautifulGame (@The_BeautGame1) May 26, 2023 In his first season as a coach, Heidenheim won promotion to the regional league, the fourth-tier division, and the following year they were promoted to the third league. The fans couldn’t believe it – they had a miracle-maker in the dugout! Schmidt only did his licenses on the side. In 2014, Heidenheim was promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. It looked like they were punching above their level, but they stunned the country by making it to the big time nine years later. Again, Frank was their leading man.BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! BUNDESLIGA! 🏆🏆🏆🔴🔵 #NurDerFCH #SSVFCH pic.twitter.com/haihQw2AJX— 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (@FCH1846) May 28, 2023 The Heidenheim philosophy is to bring in players on the way up, for whom it is special to play for Heidenheim in the 2. Bundesliga. And then, when they have become too big for the club, they are resold. Schmidt’s job is to develop these players and form a team.”That’s the biggest challenge for me as a coach, ensuring a team is a team.”Schmidt is who he is. He doesn’t pretend, doesn’t claim success for himself, doesn’t seek the limelight, but he doesn’t belittle himself either. He has a keen sense of which player needs a hug and which needs a telling-off. Being a psychologist is his passion, he says.”The players want honest communication and not be made scapegoats.”##NAJAVA_MECA_7283822##Frank first came to Heidenheim in 2003 as a player for Heidenheim. He saw how hard people work in the industrial city, where there are many middle classes.”Heidenheim taught me to be diligent. If you want it good, you have to work hard for it.”And as a coach, he taught Heidenheim that football can inspire. Schmidt has rarely heard protests from the stands in his 15 years. And if he did, he kept calm. In 2017, the team was in 16th place for weeks and in danger of going back down to the third league. The long-term success has also raised expectations. In the end, he managed to stay up. The club showed him confidence, and was rewarded. Next season, they’ll play against Bayern, Werder, Dortmund, and Leverkusen. And they will be in a division above Schalke, Hertha, Hansa, Hannover 96 and many bigger clubs.Hamburg fans running on the pitch to celebrate promotion as Heidenheim were losing 2-1 in the 90th min only for them to score 2 goals in added time and win 3-2 leaving Hamburg 3rd Hahahahahahaha get fucked bozos 😂 pic.twitter.com/iME17P9FXv— Conor (@ConorM67_) May 28, 2023 In the last few years, Schmidt has received several offers from other clubs, but rejected them all. His dream was to take Heidenheim to the big time – and he succeeded. To him, two weeks became 15 years. And a village team with just a single stand became a 1. Bundesliga club.
